Tennessee House Speaker Under Pressure to Resign Amid Drug and Sexting Scandal

Tennessee House Democrats have called for House Speaker Glen Casada to resign amid a developing drug and sex scandal involving his former chief of staff, Cade Cothren.

Cothren resigned on May 6 after confirming that he used cocaine in the legislative office building, and text messages showed that he solicited sex from an intern and a lobbyist. Cothren also reportedly sent racist text messages and had a lewd exchange with Casada about one of Cothren’s female friends.

In a statement to The North Star, House Democrats said that it was clear that Casada “participated in numerous acts that make his continued service as Speaker untenable.”

“Citizens of the state of Tennessee deserve to have a speaker that they can trust; whose character and moral standards are beyond reproach,” Democratic House Minority Leader Karen Camper said in a statement to The North Star. “The actions…

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